NEWPORT PART 1

Our week in Newport Beach was the perfect family vacation for us right now. It was a blend of beach, biking, playing, eating and exploring. The family was split into two houses. Our house was on the beach with our family of eight (sounds crazy writing that) and my brother-in-law Ben's family. The second house was a few rows back with my in-laws, and sister-in-laws; Shannon and Emily's families. Having our house on the beach was amazing for all the times I had to run back inside, especially for the girl's naps. Our older kids and the cousins were amazing with the little kids, keeping them entertained and happy. The Friday we got there I started getting sick. By Saturday morning I was coughing uncontrollably. This was the sickest I have been in a long, long time. Sadly the entire trip was plagued by my cough and me not feeling well. I went to bed early every night it was kind of a bummer. My high light was getting the frozen banana on Balboa Island. I'm a huge Arrested Development fan… "there's always money in the banana stand."

^^all the girl cousins (minus gretchen) playing on the beach 

^^drew always being silly!

^^this was the second beach house. we joked it was the designer house. i want to live there

^^poor lucy and her black eye!

^^trying on different outfits for the family photo shoot!

^^lydia wanted to wear her watermelon outfit

^^the family pictures begining  

^^emily's cute family 

^^these three had the best time all week! 

^^perfect evil lydia face. this describes her personality to a tee

^^poor brooklyn didn't take a nap this afternoon and was in a petty whinny mood 

^^always rockin her shades

^^a cute cafe i got tea at one morning, trying to control my cough

^^the boat ride to balboa island 

^^chilling on balboa

^^we were wayyy too excited to get those frozen bananas! 

^^sawyer is the best big brother. 

^^her glasses again

^^these water buckets were to clean the sand off our feet before we went back into the house. of course lydia has to be naughty and get all the way inside. she is always so proud of herself in a naughty moment. 

4TH OF JULY 2015

Since we moved to San Jose we have done 4th of July in Aptos with friends. This year Rob's parents organized a family trip to Newport Beach, CA. We lucked out because the house we were staying in Saturday-Saturday, "required" us to stay Friday too. We got to wake up in Newport Beach on the 4th of July! If you know me, you know I LOVE parades. I require Rob to attend three per year with me: Easter, 4th of July and Thanksgiving. Because we have done Aptos the last two years we missed any parades. This year I found the Newport Beach parade with a "celebration" after. How fun?! I thought it was a little odd that the street was basically empty only a few minutes before the parade. But alas people started filling in and the parade began. Everything started good, at first. Brooklyn has been to enough parades that she immediatly asked she would get some candy. Ha! A few trucks drove by and threw out candy then people started walking, and more people, and more people. THAT was the parade. After five minutes with the girls looking sad waiting for candy or a float we stepped up and joined the parade. Brooklyn waved the flag and proudly walked as people clapped. We sat towards the end so our walk to the celebration was short. I did get too many pictures it was cute for the kids to jump on all the bounce houses and the play ground. There was a bunch of food but we decided to head back to the beach and join my brother in law Ben's family and my in-laws. At night we watched the fireworks from our beach house and just talked. I love the 4th of July and this year was no exception! 

^^these girls. sisters & best friends. im obsessed! 

^^rocking her USA glasses

^^she was so cute waving that flag

^^my lyddy :)

^^such a family picture fail.
i don't blame the kid's faces.
this was THE lamest parade ever.

^^we decided to get up and join the "parade"
which consisted of random people walking down the street

^^the "parade" finished into the celebration
bouncy houses and food

^^then it was back to the beach house to join the rest of the family

^^their cutest cousin gretchen  

^^rob teaching brooklyn how to surf

^^my happy baby crab

^^the same bathing suit brooklyn wore two 4th of july's ago!

^^love this dad

^^my crew

^^beck and grammie 

DISNEYLAND 2015

Disneyland truly is the happiest place on earth! Brooklyn has been Disney World twice but this was the first visit for both girls to Disneyland. Brooklyn is just old enough (we think) to really appreciate all the characters and attractions. I know she won't remember this trip but we always will. Brooklyn and Lydia's faces were just the best throughout the day. Everyone was happy, including Rob(!!) to be there. It really was just the perfect day. The biggest highlight for me was the Enchanted Tiki Room. Watching that show always makes me really feel like I'm on vacation. Brooklyn and Lydia were clapping and dancing along in their seats the entire time. Brooklyn's highlight was the Dumbo the flying elephant and the Casey Jr Circus train rides. Rob's highlight was that Brooklyn's favorite ride was one with him! Lydia's highlight was probably the pink cotton candy. We drove down from San Jose Thursday night and didn't get to the hotel until 2AM! Friday morning we slept in (hallelujah!) until 11AM, ate lunch and casually walked over to the park. We knew the girls wouldn't last all day and we only had to pay for two tickets (everyone is still under 3- score!) so rushing there wasn't an issue. We stayed until about 6PM and felt we had seen everything we wanted, without any meltdowns! Rob insisted we go on Its a Small World before we left. I was resistant because I thought the line would be wrong but to my surprise we walked on! The dancing dolls are so incredibility cute. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day. 

^^waiting to board the train

^^train ride around the park to check out what we wanted to do

^^just some of the little details on the 60th diamond celebration

^^all she could think about was that pink cotton candy

^^lydia fell asleep as we entered fantasyland.
brooklyn was spoiled to get all the attention riding with just mom or dad.
can you tell, she loved it!

^^patiently waiting for dumbo.
it was our longest wait of the day: 30 minutes!

^^dumbo ride was not only her favorite of the day
but her favorite thing from the whole newport beach trip!

^^studying the park map.
after every ride…. "can we please go on another ride?! i love disneyland!"

^^trying so hard for a disneyland family photo

^^the whole crew on its a small world. this was take #109287398473

^^i love how sweet she is with beckett 

^^disneyland is such a magical place

^^end of the day.. i got my chocolate mikey mouse ears ice-cream! 

^^walking back to our car. we stayed at the marriott courtyard across the street from the park